Jacob Loeb began writing for newspapers in high school, first for the school's publication and then for a Vashon, Washington, community paper. He graduated college with a degree in English Literature and Television Communications. After graduating, Loeb worked in film distribution for a pioneering DVD company that supported independent filmmakers. Years later, he wrote for a weekly newsletter about technology and ran a popular computer advice column called Ask Jacob. Moving to the Montavilla neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, with his family in 2005, Loeb firmly planted roots in the community and now writes for the Montavilla News. He is a Society of Professional Journalists member and volunteers with non-profit organizations serving East Portland.
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In July 2025, Oregon Metro purchased a 1.46-acre property at the intersection of SE 90th Place and SE 89th Avenue for planned Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). For over a decade, community advocates have envisioned the large, sloped property as a neighborhood park and are now seeking support for that project ahead of Metro’s RFP (Request for Proposals) this summer. Residents and interested parties can complete an Online Form to endorse a call for the City to purchase the lot from Metro and to direct Portland Parks and Recreation to create public green space for the expanding community in this area.
Park Rendering from the 2018 EPA Greening The Jade project document
Metro’s TOD team plans to introduce new affordable housing at the site with help from partner developers. The early concepts included open neighborhood greenspace, but not at the scale documented in the 2014 Jade District community visioning plan or the 2018 EPA Greening the Jade project. The community outreach recorded in those documents showed a desire and expressed need for green space across all groups in the neighborhood. The Metro-owned property at 2815 SE 90th Place is in the center of a community surrounded by busy city roadways, a State highway, and a freeway. Harrison Park is the closest park to this location, at over half a mile away, and often serves as an extension of the adjoining school’s campus rather than a neighborhood park.
2815 SE 90th Placeproperty with fence
Andrea Pastor, Metro’s Senior Development Project Manager of Housing and TOD, explained in a September 2025 interview that Metro purchased the land along SE 89th Avenue using an allocation provided by the Oregon State legislature for a revolving acquisition fund around 82nd Avenue. “With all of the improvements happening on 82nd, including the planning of the new transit, we wanted to prioritize the area. So we made a specific legislative ask back in 2023 for some funds to buy land near 82nd,” said Pastor. “We have been basically looking and making offers on properties in the area for the last couple of years.” She notes that Metro has often owned land around transit with the intention of developing it. “We are trying to think of ourselves as a regional land bank specifically aimed at building affordable housing near transit.”
The Jade District advocacy organizers seeking support for the park say Metro TOD is willing to sell the parcel, but City of Portland support must be secured before Metro releases an RFP to potential developers in August or September 2026. The park space is across from The Jade apartments, which are currently under construction and will offer 15 units with family-sized accommodations, including three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The workforce housing development will also create 14 one-bedroom and 11 two-bedroom flats. The expanded pool of families on this street would benefit from a new city park with a safe crossing to a play area. The site can also amplify existing green space that is not publicly accessible but protected by Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services, which owns the lot to the south of this property. It serves as a natural stormwater detention area where plants and soil help absorb the area’s rainwater. It also contains a sewer pump facility that requires 24-hour security for community safety and asset protection. Depending on the City’s flexibility, designers could extend park space into some of the stormwater detention area land without compromising security.
Image from the 2018 EPA Greening The Jade project document
Park designs and amenities presented in the visioning materials are illustrative only and do not constitute final design options. If the idea receives community support through the Online Form and city officials adopt the property for a new park, future community outreach from park planners will drive the development of the green space. Whether the land serves as a public park or affordable housing, this large, underdeveloped property will become a needed community resource as housing density brings more people into the Jade District.
TriMet will observe this year’s Transit Driver Appreciation Day on March 18th. For over a decade, the municipal transportation corporation has used this day to invite its users to thank those who keep the system moving. If riding on public transportation this Wednesday, event organizers encourage people to say “thank you,” wave, give a card, or smile at the operator. Riders can sign a banner at one of four transit center locations or post their message of thanks on an online kudoboard.
Image courtesy triMet
TriMet’s role is critical in building housing density and lowering Oregon’s carbon output. Modern Portland multi-family developments often lack onsite parking or offer minimal vehicle storage space. This development model helps maximize the housing units on a property and encourages people to forgo a private vehicle. Instead, city planners who rezone for more density anticipate that residents will use other commuting methods, including public transit. This model should reduce the environmental impact of transportation in Oregon, but it depends on fast and effective alternatives that use less polluting propulsion. TriMet is the largest transportation provider in the region for those without personal vehicles, providing over 56 million rides in the 2025 fiscal year.
Transit drivers are not only responsible for safely moving people throughout the community but also play an impactful role in reducing climate change and mitigating the housing crisis. TriMet drivers always welcome daily appreciation, but March 18th is an appropriate time to communicate your gratitude.
Portland City Councilor Steve Novick wants to amend a 1992 chronic nuisance property ordinance to lessen the threshold for triggering mandated remedies. He is proposing these changes with the intent of reducing the impact on afflicted neighborhoods from human trafficking and gun violence. The City Council will hear first reading on this proposed amendment at the March 18th session held at 6 p.m. this Wednesday.
Former Congressman Earl Blumenauer introduced the first version of Portland’s chronic nuisance property ordinance while serving as a Portland Commissioner. It received several updates in the years following its enactment but has remained relatively unchanged since 1997. The proposed update considers the current list of Nuisance Activities to be too narrow and the timeframe for accumulating violations to be too restrictive for law enforcement to adequately address contemporary instances of harmful behavior. “We’re proposing that instead of having to have three instances in 30 days to initiate this process —which is a lot, a hell of a lot of bad stuff can go on in the location, and you still don’t have three reports in 30 days— we’re proposing it become two in 90 days,” said Novick.
The councilor says this ordinance has never been intended to punish property owners. Instead, it is designed to encourage responsible site operations. “What it means is, it just gives the police a little more leverage to lean on property owners to play ball,” explained Novick. However, enforcement is not without significant consequences if people ignore recurring complaints. “Well, I don’t know if that’s ever happened, but if you can’t work out an agreement, then the city can go to court, which has happened rarely, and the court can order them to take abatement measures. Then, only if they don’t take abatement measures, then the last resort is that they forfeit the property,” Novick said. Ordinance infractions only accumulate for specific activity from a list of 25 defined types that occur within 200 feet of their property. Those activities include assault, Firearm-related crimes, drug crimes, and prostitution.
Additionally, Novick noted that the existing ordinance did not provide sufficient guidance for property owners to demonstrate a good-faith effort to improve conditions. So part of this update is to build that into the legislation. “Washington D.C. came up with a list of abatement measures to be considered. So we’re borrowing from that and saying, ‘here’s a list of things you might be asked to do,’” said Novick. The intent is to ensure people have a clear path to avoid consequences while minimizing the negative impact on the community. As the updates to the chronic nuisance property ordinance developed in committee, City Council members have worked to address business owners’ concerns. “The Asian American Hotel Owners Association’s Taran Patel testified. He said that he was generally supportive of the idea, but was concerned about what if a hotel reports the activity itself? Is that held against them?” recalled Novick. ” We thought that was a reasonable question, so we added an amendment to the law saying that if the property owner reports the activity themselves, then as long as they are cooperating with the police and following up on that subsequently, that doesn’t go on their record as one of the two instances that lead to invoking the nuisance law.”
In addition to the self-reporting amendment, the committee removed noise complaints from this ordinance, recognizing that such complaints are inconsistent with the other listed nuisances, which mostly focus on crimes that reduce perceived safety. “We’re removing noise as one of the chronic nuisance criteria at [Councilor] Jamie Dunphy’s request, and it’s not really what we’re worried about anyway,” said Novick. He explained that the city is trying to tackle serious issues where people suffer life-changing harms, including physical abuse and trafficking of people for sex work. Sex trafficking has become particularly apparent along NE 82nd Avenue near Leodis V. McDaniel High School and within certain storefronts advertising massage services that have spread across the region. “It identifies unlawful, non-compliant massage parlors as one of the nuisance activities. That’s a new thing, and because of the law that Representative [Thủy] Trần passed,” explained Novick. House Bill 3819, which Representative Trần co-sponsored, gave new investigatory powers to the State Board of Massage Therapists starting on January 1st, 2026, and increased maximum fine amounts. Now, the board can post a placard on the exterior of a business notifying the public if the massage facility is in violation of ORS 687.021 by using unlicensed practitioners.
Some critics of this type of legislation fear that without lodging spaces available, it will push sex work further into unsafe and exposed environments, including cars and public streets. This same perspective sometimes attributes the increase in pervasive solicitation on city streets to the 2018 passage of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) that shut down many online forums used for connecting buyers and sellers of sex work. Some of those online tools had reportedly made sex work safer by letting sellers check a buyer’s reputation. Since 2018, the nation has seen an increase in street-based sex work, often with associated ancillary crimes occurring around that activity. Novick explained that he heard that perspective from some people, but that counter testimony convinced him that lodging did not provide substantive protections for vulnerable sex workers. “Robin Miller, who’s a survivor and advocate, testified in favor of the proposal several weeks ago,” recalled Novick. “Her experience was that there was nothing safe about being at a motel and was beaten by a supplier [third-party seller of sex] in front of the hotel owner, and the hotel owner didn’t do anything.” That testimony, along with the councilor’s understanding of community needs, has increased his support for this update to Portland’s chronic nuisance property ordinance. “We are concerned about kids walking this gauntlet of sex trafficking,” said Novick. “So you balance interests, and if you think that there’s a community benefit to doing something —and there’s significant numbers of people most affected who think that it’s the right thing to do— I’m willing to go with what I think has the broader community benefit.”
The expressed goal of this update is to further motivate businesses to assist with the problems surrounding their operations. Landowners may not always live in the same neighborhood as their property, but the city says, with this ordinance, that they have a commitment to those communities that should not be discounted. “The underlying question is, does a property owner have some responsibility for what’s going on on their property? I tend to think that they do,” said Novick.
On Thursday evening, March 12th, supporters and guests of Volunteers of America Oregon gathered near the Convention Center to celebrate the family safety, substance use treatment, behavioral health, and post-criminal justice system support organization’s 130 years in the state. After hearing from VOA Oregon’s current President and CEO, Maree Wacker, and Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read about the benefits of a planned 5.67-acre campus at 8815 NE Glisan Street, attendees were asked to donate towards the facility’s construction and support the group’s other active programs.
VOA Oregons’s Community Changemakers: From Past to Possibility event on March 12, 2026
Volunteers of America Oregon purchased the Montavilla-based property in 2021, which had previously served as a church. The organization’s President and CEO at the time, Kay Toran, was instrumental in selecting the NE Glisan and 90th Avenue property as a new campus and treatment center. Her quarter-century of leadership concluded when she retired in early 2025, with few updates on campus development plans during the nonprofit’s leadership transition. The new location should allow the organization to co-locate some of its programs in an East Portland site, creating new community resources and one-stop service delivery alongside centralized administrative functions.
Looking Northwest at future NE Glisan site. Rendering by Opsis Architecture provided courtesy VOA Oregon
In February 2024,area residents reviewed renderings of the proposed facility and learned about the phased buildout plans. Designers with Opsis Architecture arranged the proposed campus with external functions in buildings adjacent to NE Glisan Street and internal services in the site’s northwest half. The proposed VOA Oregon buildings will stand two stories tall along the site’s southern edge, rising to three levels as the land slopes downhill, maintaining a consistent scale along the frontage. Crews will reconstruct the existing parking lot, adding more trees and landscaping between the 92 stalls. Another cluster of lots along the property’s northern edge will provide an additional 54 on-site parking spaces. The early redevelopment will raze the 1950s-era church building and add frontage improvements along NE Glisan Street with significant work on NE 90th Avenue. Road Crews will reconstruct sections of NE 90th, adding sidewalks, street trees, and curbside parking spaces to the street’s western edge.
During the 2024 community outreach, Toran noted that the construction schedule is dependent on fundraising efforts. Since that time, VOA Oregon began using two buildings at Jessup University’s Multnomah Campus for its residential treatment for women with children. This partnership leverages surplus dormitory space at the faith-based higher education campus located at 8435 NE Glisan Street, just west of the future VOA Oregon site. Jessup University placed its 20-acre Multnomah campus on the market in 2025 and is still seeking a buyer for the entire property. Depending on which group purchases the university site and its redevelopment timeline, VOA Oregon staff may have a limited timeframe to relocate to the new property. Making this fundraising effort essential to maintaining long-term operations in the area.
VOA Oregons’s President and CEO Maree Wacker speaking at the Community Changemakers: From Past to Possibility event on March 12, 2026
A successful fundraising effort should advance the timeline for work at the VOA Oregon’s NE Glisan Street Health and Family Services Campus. Maree Wacker explained to the Thursday night audience what they intended to create at their site and why people should support their efforts. “Located in Northeast Portland, our campus will become a regional hub for healing, recovery, health, and hope. It will include 100 residential treatment beds for individuals facing severe substance use disorder, co-occurring mental health conditions, and pregnant women with children. Integrated intensive outpatient services that help individuals coming from residential care and back into the community, serving over 15,000 people each year.” She went on to explain that their trained staff will offer recovery housing with outpatient services, including peer support from people who have lived experience redirecting their lives from addiction. The campus will include space for essential health care, along with support, to create mental and physical stability so program participants can succeed in finding housing, employment, and long-term success. The organization provides specific support for families, and the planned campus includes facilities for childcare, helping people stay connected to their parental role as they seek behavioral health services.
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read speaking at the Community Changemakers: From Past to Possibility event on March 12, 2026
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read followed up with a declaration that the proposed campus was “the kind of solution Oregon deserves. It’s a model that is integrated. It’s evidence-based. It’s place-based. And that vision becomes even more transformative when we recognize the power of placing services designed to care for people and families through some of the most difficult moments in their lives, all in one place.” Read continued to highlight the nonprofit’s campus design’s efficiency and effectiveness. “It’s not about convenience, it’s about connections, reducing duplication, simplifying access, and strengthening accountability. Above all, it is centering dignity and equity, ensuring that the people we’re serving are meeting a system that is designed around them.”
In both speakers’ descriptions of the planned site development, they highlighted the value of having a single location that serves the range of needs of people interested in improving their lives. “Imagine those 100 new residential treatment beds alongside outpatient services, alongside recovery housing, alongside family support. It’s not a collection of disconnected programs, but a true continuum of care, one that welcomes people at the turnstiles of crisis and walks with them through stabilization and healing and through long-term recovery,” exclaimed Read. “This campus is not merely a collection of buildings. In this case, it is a coordinated system. It’s not coordinating programs, but coordinating people, organized and designed around people.”
“We are building a future where services are integrated, where isolation is replaced with connection, and where people now needing recovery encounter support instead of obstacles,” said Wacker. “This campus is more than buildings. It declares loudly and clearly, you belong here. No matter your past, hope lives here. A place that restores your dignity and gives you a chance to leave behind who you’ve been and finally become that person you always knew you could be.”
The VOA Oregon’s Health and Family Services Campus at 8815 NE Glisan Street is likely years away from opening. The nonprofit will continue seeking financial support for the multi-phase buildout. As of yet, there are no active demolition or construction permit applications listed for the property. However, remarks at this week’s fundraising event show the group is intent on continuing the work started under Kay Toran’s leadership and setting up roots in the Montavilla Neighborhood.
At the beginning of the year, TriMet announced a series of proposed cost-cutting measures planned for August and asked for rider feedback via an online survey. Those early cost-saving adjustments would have eliminated the Line 19 Bus route, among other reductions, and its closure would have ended NE Glisan Street’s century-long run as Montavilla’s transit backbone. The transit provider updates its proposal with a partially restored Line 19 route that will retain most of the existing path from the Gateway Transit Center to Downtown Portland. The TriMet Board of Directors will consider the updated proposals and vote on these changes on April 22nd.
Other potential changes were also refined to lessen reported impact but would similarly reduce functionality for transit users, push more people to existing TriMet lines, or encourage driving to some destinations. TriMet leaders are trying to close a $300 million annual budget gap through a variety of measures. Since first announcing the issue in July 2025, the transit agency says it has reduced spending by about $150 million through cutting expenses, eliminating staff positions, and pausing service expansion efforts. The next round of reductions aims to trim service or remove low-ridership lines where riders have other, sometimes less functional, options. In fiscal year 2025 (July 1st, 2024, through June 30th, 2025), 15,600 riders boarded Line 19 each week. Of those weekly transit users, 7,617 started their trip between I-205 and stops at Southwest Lincoln Street and 4th Avenue in Downtown Portland. Losing that route alarmed some riders, who were vocal in their opposition to the change.
TriMet graphic from March 2026 showing current and proposed cuts to the MAX Green Line and Line 19 bus route among others
The updated plans for the NE Glisan Street bus would maintain Line 19 along the busy commercial street where it serves several high-traffic destinations, including Providence Portland Medical Center. Downtown, the updated route would connect with the Line 58 path, creating a direct transit link between the Beaverton and Gateway transit centers. The line’s name would change to “19-Glisan/Canyon Rd” to reflect the updated path west of Downtown Portland. Lines 4 and 10 buses would cover some of the southeast leg of the route currently served by Line 19.
TriMet graphic from January 2026 showing current and proposed cuts to the MAX Green Line and Line 19 bus route among others
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In early March, crews with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) started preparing underground infrastructure ahead of updating sidewalk corners along NE Glisan Street as part of the planned NE Glisan Pave and Paint Project. The updates will use the pavement maintenance budget to restripe and reconfigure the roadway from NE 82nd to 92nd avenues. Ahead of the planned summer work, contractors will begin rebuilding crossing points to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant standards for curb ramps and updating stormwater catch basin placement to match the new ramps and better handle rainwater runoff.
The first wave of work closed the outer travel lane on eastbound NE Glisan Street from the 82nd Avenue Burgerville parking lot’s entrance up to 85th Avenue. In street excavation barricades and heavy equipment block NE 84th Avenue at NE Glisan, requiring vehicles and pedestrians to take a detour in the area. A new maintenance hole cone sits on the side street, awaiting installation just below the road’s surface.
Excavation barricades, new maintenance hole cone, and heavy equipment block NE 84th Avenue at NE Glisan
Pavement markings added to NE Glisan Street along the project path in January indicate the placement of new curb ramps and stormwater inlets. Nearly every corner that hasn’t already been updated needs improvements to assist people trying to cross this stretch of roadway, which has few marked crossings. Up to now, anyone crossing the busy east-west street has had limited curb ramp options. PBOT will need to complete sidewalk and in-road updates before major roadwork takes place, as the repaving project will repair the asphalt cuts made by crews, creating new sidewalk corners and stormwater management at the street’s edge. People can expect that work to take place this Spring.
PBOT planners anticipate that much of the in-traffic lane work will take place in the Summer of 2026, when crews use heavy equipment to grind down old asphalt and spread a new layer of aggregate bound with bitumen to create a smoother driving surface. Contractors will repaint the lane markings in a new configuration to support painted buffered-bike lanes along the curb for much of the project length. This section of NE Glisan Street implemented alternating outer lanes used for parking or an auxiliary travel lane, depending on the time of day. Collisions occurred on this street where cars were parked, but drivers may have assumed the outer lane was clear. PBOT engineers anticipate that removing that conflict point will yield significant safety improvements with minimal impact on vehicle throughput. This work will also increase safer bike and pedestrian infrastructure in the area this year, while later project work can build on the new configuration with hardened street elements for greater safety.
Illustration of the existing four travel and one turn lane over proposed configuration from PBOT’s NE Glisan St – 82nd Avenue Multimodal Safety and Access 2028-2030 RFFA Project Factsheet. Courtesy Oregon Metro
This stretch of NE Glisan received an Oregon Metro Regional Flexible Funds Allocation grant to add physically protected bike infrastructure sometime in 2030. The work included in the Northeast Glisan St: 82nd Avenue Multimodal Safety and Access project would require lane reconfiguration and repainting. PBOT Planners feel that this 2026 road surface maintenance presents an opportunity to save public funds by reconfiguring the street during the post-asphalt-work painting process, years before the larger safety improvement project. By doing road marking work now in the new configuration, PBOT can save taxpayer funds by lessening the reconfiguration costs four years later.
Travelers should anticipate construction on sidewalks and in the roadway along NE Glisan Street from NE 82nd to 92nd avenues as crews rebuild pedestrian and stormwater infrastructure. People walking in the area should anticipate detours when demolition and construction work ramp up. Drivers in the area should expect temporary outer lane closures on NE Glisan during construction, followed by permanent outer lane closures after crews paint new lane markings. Crews will work to maintain access to business and residential driveways. Details are available on the project website.
Correction: NE 84th Avenue was incorrectly identified as SE 84th Avenue.
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Across from Eastport Plaza, the Meals on Wheels People nonprofit is transforming a full block frontage at 4035 SE 82nd Avenue into an East Portland food distribution hub and resiliency center for a community that depends on their system for regular sustenance. The warehouse portion of the building already houses frozen and shelf-stable meals for the nonprofit’s programs on this side of the river. When construction is complete, this site will serve as a backup kitchen for their westside primary facilities, a resource center, a counter-service restaurant for program participants, and an event space.
The organization purchased the property in July 2021 with the intention of quickly expanding its delivery network, which distributes prepared meals to collection locations across the region where people come to eat in groups, or where volunteers collect and transport those meals to homebound elderly recipients. “We originally thought we could do this pretty quickly because the [existing] warehouse was added on in 2014. We could start with a warehouse because we weren’t moving any walls or anything, just installing our freezers and coolers in there. That took forever, so we then said, ‘Well, let’s do the whole deal,'” recalled Suzanne Washington, the Chief Executive Officer at Meals on Wheels People. They began work in phases, using the completed sections as crews renovate existing structures and then begin construction on new structures. “Phase one was that warehouse. Phase two is some offices and then part of the service area, as I call it,” explained Washington. Most of the building is single-story, but the area under construction will have two levels, an event space upstairs and the main floor hosting a kitchen, cafe area, hub for senior deliveries, and additional space they intend to lease to another service provider group that would benefit from being connected to Meals on Wheels People patrons.
Rendering of expanded building on SE 82nd Avenue courtesy Meals on Wheels People
During the nonprofit’s phased buildout, the neighboring Eastport Food Center cart pod closed, with its owner moving out of Oregon. He listed the property at 3905 SE 82nd Avenue for sale, and Meals on Wheels People purchased it in August 2024 to support development logistics and provide future auxiliary vehicle storage space. “We own this lot across the street, which is right now our staging for construction, but it will become parking for the event space and the senior transportation vans,” said Washington. The main Eastside facility has a parking lot, but four stalls support Electric Vehicle (EV) charging for the growing fleet of battery-powered transportation used by Meals on Wheels People. The SE Center Street accessed parking lot dedicates a sizable amount of space to the “U” shaped driveway that will support the speedy loading of delivery vehicles. Having the expanded parking across the street allowed designers to focus on operational uses adjacent to the building. The large lot across the street also allows for the delivery and staging of produce directly to this location. “So fruits, vegetables, and supplementary food will be delivered here directly, so we don’t have to bring them from Multnomah Village. Multnomah Village is now only bringing those frozen meals,” Washington said.
Reducing the amount of food transported is a key component of this expansion project. Although the established network had served the 55-year-old organization, leadership identified vulnerabilities and operational inefficiencies that this East Portland hub could address. A primary labor and cost savings would come from reducing the number of site-to-site transport trucks needed. “We will be able to get rid of a diesel truck and use our electric vehicles to deliver to Gresham, MLK, and all the places on the east side,” explained Washington. “Right now, a big diesel truck, which costs us $8,000 a month, goes to 20 different sites. We can be better for the environment and get rid of it.” The organization received a PGE Drive Change Fund grant for a second EV to replace a diesel medium-duty delivery truck with an electric delivery truck and to install charging infrastructure.
Another key concept in building along 82nd Avenue is based on maintaining operations when a disaster or weather prevents cross-town traffic. “The goal was to get a hub for emergencies on this side of the river. Our central kitchen right now is in Multnomah Village, and that’s where we make every meal fresh daily. We cook, flash-freeze, and then package anywhere from 6,500 to 8,000 meals a day. All the home deliveries are frozen [with volunteers] dropping them off for a whole week.” In the event of road network disruption, demand for food from program participants increases, and the ability to continue operations will be a critical lifeline for elderly people trapped at home. The kitchen at this new site will primarily serve people walking in for meals, but it has the capacity to prepare 2,000 meals a day in times of emergencies. It also has substantial freezer space for storing food. “The warehouse freezer right now has 45,000 frozen meals in it,” said Washington. They circulate the stockpile every day to deliveries in East Portland, but keep a reserve for emergencies. They also keep another 20,000 shelf-stable meals that can further bolster food delivery capabilities in situations where not everyone may have access to power to store and cook deliveries. The building is served by dual-fuel generators to keep the facility operational even if the power grid is down, and contractors will install solar panels on the roof, further ensuring the building remains powered and reduces its daily dependence on utility power.
Rendering of expanded building on SE 82nd Avenue courtesy Meals on Wheels People
Suzanne Washington and others led the drive to buy this property because the organization is relying on leased space east of the river, and making this level of investment in someone else’s property would not have been a good use of resources. Additionally, the current locations are too small for the storage needs provided by the 82nd Avenue building. However, this new space will not immediately replace any existing site as the nonprofit needs those locations to continue serving its primary function. “We’ll keep those sites because people can only go so far. We do two things. For older traditional adults, we do home-delivered meals, and then we do congregate dining, where, if they can, we get them out of their homes to eat with other people. It’s much better for their health,” Washington said. “We still want to provide that service where they can come in and eat.”
Similar to other locations, the SE 82nd Avenue building is designed to bring people in to eat, but with more flexible hours and the ability to order something prepared to the individual’s tastes. “When somebody comes in for a meal here, first of all, they can come in at 8 o’clock and get a breakfast burrito; it doesn’t have to be lunch. They can eat at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, they order at the counter, and then we’ll bring it to them,” remarked Washington. “So we can serve the diversity of folks out here with their ethnic cultural needs and not your traditional lunch where you get one of two choices, and that’s it, because we control this space.” She describes it as similar to a Chipotle restaurant, where a person can customize flavors and mix and match base ingredients, all prepared fresh on site.
Rendering of tech hub courtesy Meals on Wheels People
Guests can stop in at this location on their schedule, but they must become program participants and are limited to one meal per day. “It’s not meant to open to the street, especially right on this street,” said Washington. “We had a place downtown that we closed because most of the older people wouldn’t come because we had so many homeless folks.” Meals on Wheels People’s primary mission is serving older adults 60 and over. Washington explained that about 30 percent of the organization’s funding comes from the federal government through the 1965 Older Americans Act. “That comes with requirements like we have to have certain dietary guidelines and we have to ask for donations [from recipients], but there’s no coercion for that donation.”
Although serving older adults is what most people associate with the Meals on Wheels brand, through other funding systems, they also help alleviate food insecurity among youth and their families. The Meals 4 Kids program serves families with at least one child under 18. “Last year, we served over 275 people within those families. We provided more than 300,000 meals,” said Washington. In this program, families receive frozen meals with supplemental foods like bread, milk, and fruit, or they can get the raw ingredients and cook them themselves. The program is based out of the SE 82nd Avenue facility and primarily serves East Portland residents. “The great thing about that program is that over 70% get the raw food and then they’re home with kids cooking, doing homework, that kind of thing. Not trying to haul somebody around on the bus or trying to figure out how to make a meal out of a school backpack,” remarked Washington. They have other dietary assistance initiatives, including one that delivers medically tailored grocery boxes to pregnant and newly lactating women.
Rendering of dining area courtesy Meals on Wheels People
Food is at this organization’s core, but this new location will help Meals on Wheels People further expand services beyond feeding people by offering a tech hub and community space within an environment where people can eat healthily alongside their peers and stay to discover other opportunities and services to enrich their lives. This project represents a significant milestone for Meals on Wheels People. Suzanne Washington has spent over a decade strengthening the organization. “They didn’t have enough money when I started. They were always in the hole. I focused on three things while I’ve been here. To do the best service possible to those we serve, we’ve got to support our staff the best way possible. To do that, we need resources, money. So by focusing on those three things, [service, staff, and resources], we’ve gotten more efficient, where we can put more money into the quality of our food and the type of food. We support our staff, I think, much more than we did when I got here for benefits, wages, just everyday support,” said Washington. She believes the new property allows the organization to significantly update its operational infrastructure, ultimately saving on recurring costs by lowering transportation expenses and better utilizing people’s time.
Halbert Construction Services will continue working on the project through November. Several delays with permitting and supply-chain disruptions have already pushed back the completion date, but Meals on Wheels People anticipates completion this Fall season.
Correction: Fixed a typo in Eastport Plaza’s name that misidentified it.
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A novel condo project is nearing completion at 6909 NE Multnomah Street, where developer Neil Heller added two Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) next to a 1,234 square foot 1951-era home. This approach seems similar to other infill housing projects, but its focus on reducing city-paid fees and lessening infrastructure buildout should produce a more affordable product for buyers, according to Heller.
As a resident, living just blocks away from his worksite, making space for more neighbors without upsizing the cost of entry to home ownership in the community is important to Heller. “I live here in the neighborhood, and I take my daily walk or two over to the project. It’s about seven blocks away from where I live,” remarked Heller. He also mentioned his commitment to keeping the original house on the site, which had been the home to Robert and Suzanne Matney, longtime residents who were central to the surrounding community. “They were the original owners, from what I understand. The guy even planted that big cedar tree that’s on the corner. When you see how big it is, you realize that they’ve been there a long time. They raise their kids there, and I guess they were a staple in that part of the neighborhood,” said Heller. “People just loved them, and so when they heard that we weren’t going to tear the house down and we would take good care of it, they were happy about it.”
Original 1,234 square foot 1951-era home at 6909 NE Multnomah St with tall cedar tree
The existing home spanned several lots but was massed near the corner, leaving plenty of yard space for the two 800-square-foot detached ADUs. “We removed some sheds and gazebos,” recalled Heller. His Heller Development Company then followed the condo plat process to create a micro three-unit condo he is calling “Cedar Corner Cottages.” Each of the new homes the contractor created has two bedrooms and a full bathroom on the top level. The main floor has a kitchen, a living area, and a half bathroom. Heller explained that people may recognize the construction style from other area homes created by Rees Bettinger Properties. “Rees Bettinger is my general contractor on this, and sort of my development advisor.”
Heller says this is his maiden project in which all the homes on the property are intended for individual sale. “This is the first project where we are not using owner-occupied finance strategies. We have investment partners, and this is the first time we don’t have to live in the construction dust.” He is not new to the housing creation process. He has tested out his work at his own property. “I added a basement apartment and an ADU out back so we turned our single-family lot into three households,” Heller said. Additionally, he spends a considerable amount of his professional life thinking about housing supply and its impact on communities. “I have an urban planning consulting firm, and I work with cities around the country to update their zoning codes. I’m [also] faculty with the Incremental Development Alliance. It’s a national nonprofit. And we teach local people how to invest in real estate and contribute to their communities.”
Street facing unit has a zero-step entry with an accessible bathroom but the lack of a sidewalk creates a step at the property’s edge
This condo project is Heller’s way of bringing his philosophy and professional experience close to home. “It’s nice being able to invest into the neighborhood that I live in, bring more affordable, diverse housing options to help people looking for homes,” Heller admits that there is a limit to how much of his style of infill housing is possible in the area, but he is committed to local contributions to the housing market. “I would ideally like to stay in Montavilla and continue to contribute to the vitality here. But I know that’s not always possible because deals do pop up elsewhere.”
These new homes are designed to be naturally affordable, without income restrictions. Heller accomplished this by building the units as ADUs rather than using some of Portland’s modern lot-division tools that do not require a condo Home Owners Association (HOA). “I did consider the middle housing land division. We felt like the ADU was going to be a bit more cost-effective. Right now there’s an SDC (System Development Charges) vacation, but at the time [we started] there was not. To not have to pay those SDCs, $25,000 per unit, that’s a lot of savings. And when you permit ADUs, the [city won’t] require you to improve the right-of-way,” explained Heller. “That would have been cost-prohibitive, either requiring us to build larger homes and sell them for more, or potentially leading to a project that just wouldn’t even pencil.”
Back unit with large patio and yard space. Each ADU has a 44-square-foot storage room with external door
In the case of this property, NE Multnomah Street is not fully improved, with gravel parking lanes on both sides and no sidewalks. Adding that infrastructure and the rainwater management required when you fully pave a street would have significant financial consequences. “Stormwater could be a $150,000 cost, which these small projects can’t really support,” said Heller. The original home received updates to the kitchen and bathroom, but Heller said it was in great shape, just a little outdated, until crews refreshed it. It also retained its single-car garage for onsite vehicle parking.
This smaller infill project joins others on this block, both by developers and by existing property owners. That scale of housing development pleases Heller, as it aligns with what the Incremental Development Alliance teaches. “We say ‘nobody’s coming to save you.’ If you’ve ever looked at a building and said ‘you know what that could be…’ then you’re probably that person who needs to figure out how to make it become that thing,” said Heller. “The idea here is to embolden and strengthen a whole swarm of local small-scale developers that can invest in their neighborhoods.”
Promotion: Check out East Portland News as it continues to advocate for and report on outer East Portland. You will find frequently updated articles and an archive of more than 5,000 stories written over the past 20+ years alongside a robust Community Calendar of events.
On Wednesday night, February 25th, community members and City representatives gathered in the cafeteria at Atkinson Elementary School for District 3’s local transportation funding open house. This is one in a series of four in-person events led by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to help inform the Portland City Council, which will consider new ways to fund the maintenance and operation of Portland’s streets. Mayor Keith Wilson spoke at the event, summarizing some of the alternative funding options under consideration. People interested in learning more and contributing their perspective can visit the online open houseand take a post-open house survey.
The two-hour event at 5800 SE Division Street saw visitors drop in between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. as they moved through a self-guided arrangement of poster boards, with City staff available to ask questions and take notes. Portland transportation leaders have spent years warning the community and elected officials that its funding is overburdened by project-based restrictions, preventing 70% of PBOT’s budget from reducing a $6 billion maintenance backlog that impacts road conditions, sidewalks, bridges, signs, lights, and other infrastructure. Much of the funding sourced from Federal and Oregon State sources is for specific projects, such as new crossings or other safety infrastructure, and cannot directly fill potholes or repave roads. Even if a one-time grant were sourced to repair all of Portland’s transportation infrastructure to a “fair” condition, without an updated maintenance revenue source, PBOT assets would decline over the following decades, and a new generation of Portlanders would face the same systemic problem with infrastructure upkeep. In Wilson’s remarks, he painted a troubling picture of Portland’s $85 billion in street assets. “65% of our roads are in a state of not good repair. Most of the nation is above 50%, we are at 35% [for fair condition roads]. So we’re in trouble.”
Mayor Keith Wilson speaking to attendee at the February 25th transportation funding open house
The primary reason for the funding shortfall is inflation, with the presentation material noting that the costs of transportation, construction labor, and materials have increased rapidly while general funding sources have not kept pace. The mayor also pointed to the inequity and ineffective nature of a fixed gas tax that federal legislators have not increased since 1993. “I think we all know that fossil fuels and liquid fuels are going out of style. I drive an electric vehicle myself, and I don’t pay gas taxes. So when we think about paying our fair share, we have to think about the new generation, the new century, and not look to the last century for a failed taxing policy,” said Wilson. He explained the City is looking at “dozens of different options from around the country and the State” to evaluate for Portland transportation funding.
In the open house materials, PBOT has surfaced several proposals that may lay the groundwork for future street funding. Visitors read information about a possible “Street Damage Restoration Fee” that would be charged to utility companies, contractors, or other entities that excavate or trench in the public right-of-way, damaging streets and sidewalks. These crews, including other Portland bureaus, must repair the damage. However, that work often fails to adequately restore the full integrity of a street or sidewalk, and those assets can fail prematurely, a decade or decades earlier than expected.
Presentations also asked attendees to consider a “Transportation Utility Fee” as a funding source, as 31 other Oregon cities have implemented. It could be a monthly fee added to existing public utility bills, which residents and businesses pay. That money collected would support basic road maintenance, such as fixing potholes, and requested safety improvements. A “Retail Delivery Fee” concept would require major retailers to pay a fee for packages delivered to customers through the city’s transportation network. This would come from companies like Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Target, and eBay. Colorado and Minnesota have programs like this, but Portland could be the first city to enact this if the City Council adopts this idea. This approach could cover prepared-food transportation in addition to, or in place of, packages with a “Third-Party Food Delivery Fee” similarly proposed.
Asset graphic courtesy PBOT
The open house materials also stressed accountability through audits and transparency. Mayor Wilson’s remarks also centered on shifting taxes rather than simply layering new revenue sources on residents. “The one that we’re gonna be talking about is the transportation utility fee that is going to be a replacement for a gas tax… It’s a real fair way that all houses and/or businesses will pay a portion. My promise to you is if council passes this, I will work to phase out your gas tax for fixing our streets because it’s just not fair, and we have to start rethinking how we’re gonna move our city forward.
PBOT encourages people to visit portland.gov/pbotfunding for more information and share feedback by noon on Wednesday, March 4th, 2026. After that date, extending into May, Portland City Council members will deliberate on the presented materials and community feedback.
Correction: Updated a percentage in Mayor Wilson’s quote clarifying a statement that most cities in the nation have more than 50% of streets in “fair” or “good” condition and Portland is at 35%.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Otter Wax, a neighborhood producer of small-batch specialty goods handcrafted in Portland. Using only natural ingredients, they make modern care products that are steeped in tradition. We thank them for their support.
As the Multnomah County Homeless Services Department (HSD) readies the Harrison Community Village Shelter at 1818 SE 82nd Avenue for future residents, they invite people to attend a Public Meeting on February 26th. Nonprofit provider Do Good Multnomah will operate the alternative shelter under a “clean and sober” model. Interested community members can attend the 6:30 p.m. in-person event this Thursday. Portland Community College will host the meeting in its Community Hall Annex at 7901 SE Division Street.
Shelter operators anticipate opening the facility in spring 2026 and have worked on a Good Neighbor Agreement with community and business stakeholders to lessen the impact of the Harrison Community Village Shelter on surrounding properties. Multnomah County purchased the former recreational vehicle dealership at 1818 SE 82nd Avenue in December 2022 for $2.015 million. This 34,000-square-foot parcel was the second Montavilla location the County bought that year for temporary shelter services. The other shelter, Oak Street Village at 333 SE 82nd Avenue, opened in February 2025 and is currently operating at full capacity. The Joint Office of Homeless Services — now renamed the Homeless Services Department — has held several community meetings, including one in April that announced that Do Good Multnomah would operate the site as a sober shelter. Presenters explained that residents and staff are subject to drug testing, and policy strictly prohibits the possession of non-prescribed intoxicants on the property. Selecting a sober format meets a specific need for people transitioning into stable housing who are in recovery from substance use disorder, and it better matches community desires for the site, which is near two Portland Public Schools.
HSD will contract with the operator to staff the alternative shelter site at all hours of the day. The adult residents will receive one of 38 private sleeping quarters, each with a shed-style pod design. Six converted shipping container units will provide office space for staff, participant services, hygiene facilities, kitchenette amenities, and laundry facilities. Residents and their pets will have on-site access to green space. The site will receive upgraded fencing with privacy inserts on all street sides and a wood fence between the adjacent residential property to the east. The site intends to offer more than short-term shelter. People in the program will have access to dedicated housing case management and abstinence-based recovery services to help with long-term substance use recovery and housing stability.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Otter Wax, a neighborhood producer of small-batch specialty goods handcrafted in Portland. Using only natural ingredients, they make modern care products that are steeped in tradition. We thank them for their support.
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